Roebuck is based on the true story of Knivet’s escapades in South America during the 1590s, when desperate to prove his worth to his father and his betrothed, he embarks with Thomas Cavendish on the explorer’s ill-fated circumnavigation of the globe. Portuguese colonists capture him and want to hang him as a heretic and cannibals wait in the jungle with a hankering for his flesh. But Knivet is determined to carve a name for himself in this New World. Whether acting as interpreter elect for the sadistic Cavendish, confidant to the devout but dangerous Governor of Rio de Janeiro, or the guide upon which the entire Portuguese army comes to depend, he strives for the recognition he believes he is due. Finally, deep in the jungle, he does find his calling: inciting the tribes to unite, rise up against their Portuguese oppressors and thus change the history of Brazil forever.